A study on teachers’ attitudes toward using authentic materials in foreign language teaching

This paper aims to apply theoretical achievements of language acquisition and foreign language teaching theories towards communication approaches. Hence, our study approach is to examine the reality of using authentic documents in foreign language teaching by teachers through selecting and applying this type of document.

ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO 6(115).2017 87

A STUDY ON TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD USING AUTHENTIC

MATERIALS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Dao Thi Thanh Phuong

University of Foreign Language Studies – The University of Danang; daothanh.phuong@yahoo.com.vn

Abstract - Language input (input) is a concept of Krashen that

when learners are exposed to a suitable corpus after a certain

time,they will be able to use the target language during language

acquisition Cell input language refers to the authetic document

Authentic documents show the usage of “real language” namely

the communication behavior that occurs in specific situations and

reality If authentic documents are chosen carefully as well as can

satisfy the needs of students, they will be an ideal tool for language

teaching and learning programs This paper aims to apply

theoretical achievements of language acquisition and foreign

language teaching theories towards communication approaches

Hence, our study approach is to examine the reality of using

authentic documents in foreign language teaching by teachers

through selecting and applying this type of document

Key words - teaching materials, authentic, attitude, teacher,

foreign language

1 Introduction

According to communicative approach, the final

approach of foreign language methodology is not only

teaching learners basic knowledge of the new language but

also teaching them how to use language as a communication

channel through four fundamental skills: listening - speaking

- reading - writing Therefore, teaching approach has to use

comprehensible input (According to Krashen’s theory in

1985 about comprehensible input) Comprehensible input

includes appropriate contents to learners’ proficiency level

and satisfies their need and motivation (which are basic

elements that are suggested in Lamber’s model) Moreover,

comprehensible input has to reflect the original language –

including the genuineness of the text as well as its change

over time One of the most effective ways to achieve that

goal is effectively and scientifically using authentic

materials in teaching and learning foreign languages During

teaching and learning process, authentic materials are used

initially as a part of input language and then learners

construct knowledge themselves based on those materials;

and secondly, they are used as a language which learners

have to approach to develop their language skills The

purpose of this study is to elicit teachers’ attitudes and

opinions in bringing input data namely authentic materials

in teaching by selecting criteria and applying for skills in

order to improve communication ability Moreover, this

study also put forward several suggestions to teachers for

successfully applying these materials

2 Authentic material in foreign language teaching

2.1 Definition and the role of authentic materials

Authentic materials are not generated for pedagogical

aims, they come from daily communication of native

speakers and when they are brought to classes, their

linguistic and informational forms remain unchanged in

comparison with original ones According to Besse’s

definition, “Authentic materials must be extracted from

native speakers’ conversations which are related to actual habits and communication ways Authentic materials have

to concentrate on the needs and interests of learners.” [1]

The role of authentic materials in foreign language education have been concerned and analyzed in studies of Breen (1985) and Berardo (2006) They identify four main features of these materials namely (1) presenting new vocabularies and grammatical structures in proper context; (2) validating interactions in class; (3) belonging to real life and non-academic situation; (4) exposing culture information These four features are used to guide teachers through selecting and examining authentic materials in foreign language teaching process

Additionally, in 2010, Yestis’s statement about researches on using authentic materials in education environment, especially in foreign language teaching, is

“to concretize and verify language; moreover, the aim of education is to train students’ ability and proficiency to deal with complex tasks as well as offer them preparation for social life but not simply convey to them theoretical and unpractical lessons”

As observed by Besse (1984), there are two reasons for utilizing authentic materials The first reason for the usage

is that authentic materials can reflect the use of real-life language, especially in daily communication behaviors and

in specific situations Secondly, when they are selected carefully and can satisfy learners’ demands, they will be an ideal tool for constructing language courses and studying foreign language

Furthermore, positive effects of authentic materials have been investigated in this study In the paper “The Main Advantages of Using Authentic Materials”, Philip and Shettlesworth (1978), Clarke (1989), Peacock (1997), Richards (2001), and Guariento Morley (2001) illustrated that authentic materials became more important because they create learning motivation and put learners into authentic language environment or class contextualization These authors mention some advantages of authentic materials such

as (1) to create positive effects on learners’ learning motivation and bring authentic cultural information; (2) to expose real language; (3) to satisfy learners’ needs; (4) to encourage teachers to adopt creative teaching approach

2.2 Sources and criteria in selecting authentic materials

According to Berardo (2006), authentic materials must

be chosen based on three critical criteria: suitability of content, exploitability, and readability Suitability of content means the materials must be relevant to the learners’ interest and needs

The above definition demonstrates that authentic materials can be found easily Many studies pointed out

88 Dao Thi Thanh Phuong several sources of authentic materials, such as printed

materials (newspapers, magazines, brochures, and

advertisement) and audio-visual materials (TV, podcast,

movies, and song) In the digital age, the Internet is a

significant and valuable source of material in teaching

2.3 The usage of authentic materials

Many studies claimed the advantages of using authentic

materials in foreign language educating such as creating

learning motivation, interacting with real communicative

context, and achieving communication skills However, in

order to exploit and utilize those materials effectively and

reasonably, teachers have to concern about time of usage,

amount of material as well as suitable applied level

According to Lee (1995), authentic materials can be only

used for advanced and intermediate level learners while

Tamor (2009) has another view He states that materials can

be used for every level of learners, including primary level

3 Research design

The main purpose of this study is to elicit the attitudes

of language teachers toward using authentic materials in

class The survey content consists of three parts: (1)

Attitudes towards using authentic materials; (2) Reason for

using, selection criteria and sources; (3) Advanced training

recommendations

In order to achieve the aim of the study, questionnaires

were constructed and distributed to language lecturers of

University of Foreign Language Studies – Da Nang

University The questionnaire consists of two parts The first

one observes personal data and attitudes towards using

authentic materials In the second part, the researcher designs

09 questions related to the literature review such as the roles

of authentic materials (Q2, Q3), selecting authentic materials

(Q7), sources of authentic materials (Q6), the usage of

authentic materials (Q4, Q5) as well as related suggestions

(Q8, Q9) To answer the questions, participants are allowed to

choose more than one answer for each question and add their

comments to open-response ones (Q2, Q7)

Participants in this study are 49 teachers from 07

different faculties (English, English for specific purposes

(ESP), Russian, French, Chinese, Japanese – Korean -

Thai, and International Studies) The writer selects 07

teachers from each faculty and they are divided into three

groups according to their teaching experience: Young

teachers (with 1 - 3 years of teaching experience), senior

teachers (with more than 10 years of teaching), and

teachers who are managerial staff

Descriptive statistics is used to display the result of the

survey After generalizing the answer of each question with

relevant indicators, each indicator is analyzed in terms of

percentage

4 Result and discussion

Firstly, as is shown in the result of personal data

section, 49 participants are from 07 faculties (English,

ESP, Russian, French, Japanese – Korean, and Chinese)

30% of them have 1 - 3 years of teaching experience and

the rest have more than 10 years of teaching (70%)

The next section contains questions about using authentic materials The result show that most teachers have positive attitude toward using authentic material in class By answering the first and third questions, all of the participants (100%) demonstrate that they prefer to provide authentic materials for students in order to expose them to real language (80.9%) and improve their skills (100%) Question two has no data in this analysis

Figure 1 Teachers’ attitudes toward reasons for using

authentic materials

The findings of this study confirm the positive effects

of authentic materials in improving students’ receptive and productive skills The analysis of teachers’ responses shows that 90.4% of them will use authentic materials in reading and writing classes, while 76.1% will use them in listening and speaking classes

The suitable level of starting using authentic materials is in question five of the questionnaire Most participants agree to use such materials from intermediate level (80.9%) to advanced level (100%) The maximum ratio for using authentic materials

at advanced level is affirmed by all teachers regardless of their teaching experience and working field

Figure 2 Teachers’ opinions about authentic material

selection criteria

Even though authentic materials can be found effortlessly, there are still differences between common sources as newspapers and magazines (90.4%), TV/Video (85.7%), radio (33%) and the Internet (93.3%) This finding completely matches the purpose of using authentic materials in reading and writing classes The most common sources for teachers to gain authentic materials are newspapers, magazines and the Internet because they can provide literary text documents

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Figure 3 Teachers’ opinions about sources

of authentic materials

Furthermore, to answer the question about the need for

additional training in using authentic materials, most

participants agree on a need for training in designing

materials (95%) and only 50% in selecting materials

To sum up, it is obvious that authentic materials are

necessary and useful; they help to expose learners to real

language, motivate their learning and improve their skills,

particularly through listening and reading activities

However, these materials are not always appropriate for all

students at all levels It is clear that the teacher has a role

in selecting suitable documents at different proficiency

levels for all learners

5 Conclusion

This study explores the attitudes and comments of

teachers toward using authentic materials in foreign

language teaching and it was conducted in Da Nang

University of Foreign Language Studies The results

reveal that a majority of teachers have positive attitudes

toward providing authentic input in their classes,

regardless of their length of teaching experience, working

field or specialization In order to exploit this type of

materials effectively, most participants show a need for

additional training In addition, the reason for such an

attitude is to expose students to social language, improve

skills, particularly in receptive and productive skills Materials are selected mainly from newspapers, magazines and the internet according to professional criteria and methods of designing class activities from original materials As mentioned above, the results of this study could be viewed as a starting point for further exploration into the usage of authentic materials in foreign language teaching

REFERENCES

[1] Besse, H (1984), Sur Quelques Aspects Culturels et Métalinguistiques de la Compréhension d’un Document en Classe

de Langue, Tranel 6, pp.135-145

[2] Béard, E (1991), Approche Communicative – Théorie et Pratique, Paris, CLE International

[3] Calvo, B (2001), Le Texte Publicitaire: Document Authentique Dans L’enseignement du Français Appliqué du Tourisme [4] Minescu, I., Documents Authentiqué Oraux Retrieve from http://www.asociatia

[5] Yestis, V A (2010), Le Document Authentique: Un Exemple D’exploitation en Classe de FLE, Synergies Canada, No 2 [6] Berado (2006), The Use of Authentic Material in Teaching of Reading, The Reading Matrix

[7] Breen, M (1985), Authenticity in the Language Classroom, Applied Linguistics 6

[8] Lee, W (1995), Authenticity Revisited: Text Authenticity and Learner Authenticity, ELT Journal, 49(4), 323-328

[9] Tanaka, K (1994), Advertising Language, Rutledge, London [10] Matsuta, K., Applications for Using Authentic Materials in the Second Language Classroom Retrieved on 05 June 2004, from Asia University Cele Department Website

[11] Martinez, A (2002), Authentic Materials: An Overview Karen’s Linguistic Issues Retrieved on 20 November 2003, from: http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/authenticmaterials.html [12] Guariento, W and Morley, J (2001) Text and Task Authenticity in the EFL Classroom ELT Journal 55(4), 347-353

[13] Guest, M (2002) A Critical Checkbook for Culture Teaching and Learning ELT Journal, 56(2), 154-161

[14] Jordan R R (1997) English for Academic Purposes: A Guide and Resource for Teachers Cambridge Cambridge University Press [15] Richard, J.C (2001) Curriculum development in language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

[16] Tamo, D (2009), The Use of Authentic Materials in Classrooms

(The Board of Editors received the paper on 21/06/2017, its review was completed on 27/06/2017)